MODULE 5 – C O M PU T E R

S AN D C OM M A ND M E N T S
ETHIC
THE WORLD IS CHANGING
 COMPUTER ETHICS: DEFINITION
•SAME AS CYBERETHICS, OR
•THE STUDY OF ETHICAL ISSUES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED
PRIMARILY WITH COMPUTING MACHINES AND THE
COMPUTING PROFESSION.
•THE FIELD OF APPLIED PROFESSIONAL ETHICS DEALING
WITH ETHICAL PROBLEMS AGGRAVATED,
TRANSFORMED, OR CREATED BY COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY (1970, MANER)
COMPUTER ETHICS:
SOME HISTORICAL MILESTONES
• 1940-1950: FOUNDED BY MIT PROF NORBERT WIENER:
CYBERNETICS-SCIENCE OF INFORMATION FEEDBACK
SYSTEMS.
• 1960S: DONN PARKER FROM CALIFORNIA EXAMINED
UNETHICAL AND ILLEGAL USES OF COMPUTERS BY
PROFESSIONALS. 1ST CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
FOR THE ACM.
• 1970: JOSEPH WEIZENBAUM, PROF AT MIT, CREATED
ELIZA.
• MID 1970: WALTER MANER TAUGHT 1ST COURSE AND
STARTER KIT IN COMPUTER ETHICS.
 COMPUTER ETHICS HISTORY (CONT.)

• 1980: ISSUES LIKE COMPUTER-ENABLED CRIME, DISASTERS, INVASION OF

PRIVACY VIA DATABASES, LAW SUITS ABOUT SOFTWARE OWNERSHIP BECAME
PUBLIC.

• MID 80S: JAMES MOORE OF DARMOUTH, DEBORAH JOHNSON OF RENSSELAER,

SHERRY TURKLE OF MIT, AND JUDITH PERROLE PUBLISHED ARTICLE AND BOOKS.
COMPUTER ETHICS HISTORY (CONT. 2)

• 1990: INTEREST IN COMPUTER ETHICS AS A FIELD OF

RESEARCH HAD SPREAD TO EUROPE AND AUSTRALIA.
• SIMON ROGERSON OF DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY (UK)
TERRELL BYNUM, EDITOR OF METAPHILOSOPHY (USA),
INITIATED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES.
• MID 90S: BEGINNING OF A 2ND GENERATION OF COMPUTER
ETHICS WITH MORE PRACTICAL ACTION.
• 2004: INTEREST SPREADS TO COTONOU, BENIN
 TEN COMMANDMENTS OF
COMPUTER ETHICS

• COMMANDMENT: AN INSTRUCTION; A REQUIREMENT

1.) YOU SHALL NOT USE A COMPUTER TO HARM
OTHER PEOPLE.

• INTENTIONALLY INTERFERING WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S WORK

• INVADING THE PRIVACY OF INDIVIDUALS

2.) YOU SHALL NOT INTERFERE WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S COMPUTER WORK.

• DEGRADING OR DISRUPTING EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE, OR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE.

• USING RESOURCES TO INTERFERE WITH THE PROPER OPERATION OF ANY
COMPUTER, OR DESTROY DATA.

• INTENTIONALLY INTERFERING WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S WORK

• INVADING THE PRIVACY OF INDIVIDUALS
3.) YOU SHALL NOT SNOOP AROUND IN OTHER PEOPLE'S COMPUTER FILES.

• USING AN ACCOUNT OWNED BY ANOTHER USER, OR ALLOWING ANOTHER USER TO

ACCESS YOUR ACCOUNT. (ANY PROBLEMS WHICH ARISE FROM THE MISUSE OF A
USER’S PASSWORD WILL BE THAT USER’S RESPONSIBILITY.)

• INVADING THE PRIVACY OF INDIVIDUALS

4.) YOU SHALL NOT USE A COMPUTER TO STEAL.

• USING RESOURCES IN ANY MANNER THAT VIOLATES BOARD POLICY, FEDERAL,

STATE, OR LOCAL LAW INCLUDING UNAUTHORIZED COPYING OR TRANSMISSION
OF SOFTWARE.
5.) YOU SHALL NOT USE A COMPUTER TO BEAR FALSE WITNESS.

• INITIATING OR FORWARDING “CHAIN” LETTERS.

• DOWNLOADING, STORING PRINTING, OR DISTRIBUTING FILES OR MESSAGES THAT
ARE PROFANE, OBSCENE, THREATENING, OR THAT USE LANGUAGE THAT OFFENDS
OR TENDS TO DEGRADE OTHERS.
• URBAN LEGENDS (E.G. KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS)
• UNPROVEN RUMORS (E.G. FREE COCA COLA)
6.) YOU SHALL NOT COPY OR USE PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE FOR WHICH YOU HAVE NOT
PAID.

• USING RESOURCES IN ANY MANNER THAT VIOLATES BOARD POLICY, FEDERAL,

STATE, OR LOCAL LAW INCLUDING UNAUTHORIZED COPYING OR TRANSMISSION
OF SOFTWARE.
7.) YOU SHALL NOT USE OTHER PEOPLE'S COMPUTER RESOURCES WITHOUT
AUTHORIZATION OR PROPER COMPENSATION.

• USING INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH NETWORK AND COMPUTER

RESOURCES WITHOUT GIVING PROPER CREDIT TO THE SOURCE (PLAGIARISM).

• POSTING PERSONAL COMMUNICATION WITHOUT THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S

CONSENT.
8.) YOU SHALL NOT APPROPRIATE OTHER PEOPLE'S INTELLECTUAL OUTPUT.

• POSTING PERSONAL COMMUNICATION WITHOUT THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR’S

CONSENT.

• USING INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH NETWORK AND COMPUTER

RESOURCES WITHOUT GIVING PROPER CREDIT TO THE SOURCE (PLAGIARISM).
9.) YOU SHALL THINK ABOUT THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE
PROGRAM YOU ARE WRITING OR THE SYSTEM YOU ARE DESIGNING.

• INITIATING OR FORWARDING “CHAIN” LETTERS.

• DOWNLOADING, STORING, PRINTING, OR DISTRIBUTING FILES OR MESSAGES

THAT ARE PROFANE, OBSCENE, THREATENING, OR THAT USE LANGUAGE THAT
OFFENDS OR TENDS TO DEGRADE OTHERS.
10. YOU SHALL ALWAYS USE A COMPUTER IN WAYS THAT SHOW
CONSIDERATION AND RESPECT FOR YOUR FELLOW HUMANS.

• DOWNLOADING, STORING, PRINTING, OR DISTURBING FILES OR MESSAGES THAT

CONTAIN INFORMATION CONSIDERED DANGEROUS TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE
CATEGORIES OF COMPUTER ETHICS ISSUES
• PRIVACY
• COMPUTERS CREATE A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
• PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE HOW VULNERABLE INFORMATION STORED ON COMPUTERS ARE

• PROPERTY
• PHYSICAL PROPERTY
• INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IN BOTH COPYRIGHT AND PATENT)
• DATA AS PROPERTY

• ACCESS
• ACCESS TO COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY
• ACCESS TO DATA

• ACCURACY
• ACCURACY OF INFORMATION STORED
MORAL AND ETHICAL PROBLEMS
• HACKING, CRACKING AND VIRUS CREATION
• SERIOUS CRIMES THAT CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED
• ATTEMPTS AT JUSTIFYING SUCH ACTIONS
• ELECTRONS ARE FREE- THEY DO NOT BELONG TO ANYBODY
• COMPANIES HAVE WEAK PROTECTION
• POINT OUT FLAWS AND VULNERABILITIES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• HACKING OR VIRUS CREATION IS RIGHT IN A PARTICULAR COUNTRY OR
CULTURE

• SOFTWARE PIRACY
• UNAUTHORIZED COPYING OF SOFTWARE IS STEALING
• IT IS MORALLY WRONG AS IT CONSTITUTES A VIOLATION OF SOMEONE
ELSE’S RIGHTS
PROBLEMS WITH CODES OF ETHICS

• A LEGAL SYSTEM IS NOT A COMPLETE AND CORRECT GUIDE TO MORAL BEHAVIOR

• CODES OF ETHICS ARE MOSTLY VOLUNTARY
• MAY ENCOUNTER SITUATIONS FOR WHICH THE CODE MAKES NO EXPLICIT
RECOMMENDATIONS

• GOODNESS CANNOT BE DEFINED THROUGH A LIST OF DOS AND DON'TS

• YOU MUST USE YOUR INTERNAL SENSE OF ETHICS
 COMPUTER ETHICS
AWARENESS AND EDUCATIONAL ISSUES
• HOW TO RAISE THE MORAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND ETHICAL LEVEL
• POSSIBILITIES OF DEVELOPING GLOBAL COMPUTER ETHICS CODES
• COMPUTER ETHICS EDUCATION SHOULD INCLUDE:
• EXPLANATION OF DISRUPTIVE POTENTIAL OF EVEN A SINGLE USER
• UNDERSTANDING OF IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS AND LACK OF LAWS
IN COMPUTER/INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• EXPLANATION OF INFORMATION SECURITY & RELATED PROBLEMS
• MAKING PEOPLE AWARE OF ETHICAL IMPACT OF THEIR ACTIONS
• TRAINING AND EDUCATION BY PROFESSIONALS
CASE STUDIES
ADMINISTRATOR DILEMMA

• THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT EVERY FILE ON THE SYSTEM IS ACCESSIBLE BY THE
ADMINISTRATOR AND THEY HAVE NO TRACKS WHEN THEY CHANGE A FILE

• IF ADMINISTRATOR IS ALWAYS BELIEVED, HE IS GIVEN THE ABILITY TO TAKE

ADVANTAGE OF ANYBODY AT ANY TIME

• IF USER IS ALWAYS BELIEVED, HE IS GIVEN THE ABILITY TO GET AWAY WITH

ANYTHING HE DOES

• ANYTHING ON THE SYSTEM CAN BE FAKED WITHOUT

EVIDENCE
CASE STUDIES
SOFTWARE LICENSING: STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

• YOU ARE CONTRACTED TO INSTALL NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR

SOFTWARE ON ALL THE PCS OF COMPANY X

• AFTER DOING HALF THE WORK, YOU FOUND THAT COMPANY X

IS NOT PAYING NETSCAPE FOR THE COPIES YOU ARE INSTALLING

• YOU NOTIFIED COMPANY X’S CONTACT THAT THEY ARE OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH
NETSCAPE LICENSING REQUIREMENT, BUT GOT NO RESPONSE

• WHAT WILL DO YOU DO?

CASE STUDIES
• YOU ARE ASKED TO WRITE A PROGRAM TO PRINT TAGS FOR A SALE.
YOUR BOSS ASKS YOU TO PUT TAGS THAT HAVE A PRICE 10%
HIGHER, WITH A 10% DISCOUNT MARKING IT BACK TO ORIGINAL
PRICE.

• DO YOU DO THIS?
• YOU WROTE A SOFTWARE THAT MATCHES THE REQUIREMENT YOUR
COMPANY WAS GIVEN. BUT, REQUIREMENTS ARE SO BAD THAT YOU
KNOW THE SOFTWARE WILL NOT MATCH THE ACTUAL NEEDS
- SHOULD YOU SAY ANYTHING?
- SHOULD YOUR COMPANY SAY ANYTHING? EVEN IF IT WOULD
MEAN LOSS OF FUTURE CONTRACTS?
•CONCLUSION
MUST UNDERSTAND CULTURAL, SOCIAL, LEGAL AND ETHICAL
ISSUES RELATED TO COMPUTING

• EXPECT TO FACE VARIETY OF ETHICALLY DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

• HOLD TO HIGHEST POSSIBLE ETHICAL STANDARDS
• USE YOUR INTERNAL SENSE OF ETHICS
• MAKING THE WRONG ETHICAL CHOICE BEGINS WITH FOCUSING
ON SHORT-TERM SELF-INTEREST

• ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR IS A WAY OF LIFE, BEST LEARNED THROUGH

EXPERIENCE

• LIVING ETHICALLY REQUIRES STRONG AND SINCERE MOTIVATION